foodster - recipe sharing site

Mains

Baked Barley with Shiitake Mushrooms & Caramelized Onions

From one of my good friends in the new life in Pittsburgh. Great as a main course or side dish.  For you barleyphobes (UK school dinner fear) - face it and think of the shiitake. Very, very good winter comfort food. Thanks to Cheryl.

Paula from Pitt.

Ingredients

• 2tbsp butter, 3 medium onions chopped, 1 tspn sugar
• 9oz sliced button or chestnut mushrooms & 8oz sliced shiitake mushrooms
• 1.5cups uncooked pearl barley (UK people a cup is 8floz so use 12floz in your measuring jug)
• 1tbsp soy sauce, salt and pepper to taste, pinch dried (or chopped sprig fresh) thyme
• 4cups (32floz) vegetable broth (stock)
• fresh thyme sprigs if you like

How to: Melt butter in a heavy bottomed casserole dish over medium heat, add onion & sugar, cover and cook for 25 mins or til golden brown, stirring frequently.

Add mushrooms, cook for 10 mins or until browned, stirring frequently.

Add barley, cook 2 mins, stirring frequently.

Remove from heat, stir in soy sauce, salt, pepper & thyme. Preheat oven to 350F (175C, Gas 4)

Bring broth to the boil, pour over mushroom & barley. Cover & put in oven for 1 hour-ish until barley is tender. Let stand 10 mins out of oven. Garnish with thyme sprigs.

Kubi Lamb

This is a Turkish lamb and chickpea dish that can be perfectly accompanied by the Moro Saffron Rice dish (see sides). I have Kubi to thank for this beauty.

Witte Rijst met Krenten

This recipe may well make you believe that Dutch cuisine deserves the reputation that British cuisine has, but if you, like me, love rice and, like me, love currants, and, like me, have a sweet tooth, you might think this is the best dish in the world.

The other day I had eaten a big bowl of soup earlier on and neither fancied eating a complete meal, nor going out to the shops to buy a snack. Looking in our cupboards, I noticed all the ready-made snacks had already disappeared in our stomachs. My wife, who as always shared my predicament, decided to just boil some rice and snack on that. I would have gone along with that, had it not reminded me of one of the greatest dishes I had as a child.

Halloumi dressing

Finally the secret of the halloumi dressing of bbq & dinner party fame...

For 1 pack of halloumi: Juice of 1 lime, a teaspoon or two of red pesto.

Doubting Bro wrote "where is the rest of the recipe?"

OK so a grind of black pepper to taste.  Slap it on griddled/bbq'd/fried/raw... halloumi.

Sometimes the best things are simple.  Trust me I'm a doctor!

Paula

Ribs and Noodle Soup

This is what we had for lunch today. It's kind of Japanese-y: a miso broth with bean curd, spinach and udon noodles, flavoured with ginger and garlic and served with a pile of pork ribs in a black bean sauce.

Untraditional Hutspot

This dish has a history that goes back to 1574 when the Spanish left an old version of it behind when they gave up besieging the city of Leiden. Potatoes and possibly carrots weren't known in Europe as edible at the time and were added to the recipe later.
The way most Dutch people now eat it is as a mash of potatoes, carrots, onions and rib of beef. Personally I don't like the rib of beef and have made this dish for years without it. Last week I experimented a bit more with it and came up with a version that is even tastier.

It's perfect winter comfort food, although I eat it all year round. It would be easy to make a vegetarian version of this by removing the sausage and using vegetable stock.

Traditional English Roast Beef

Kieron lived up to his reputation as roast master with a fantastic Sunday lunch. The piece of beef was organic and from one of the best butchers in Norfolk. Getting it was tricky, cooking it however was a piece of cake...

BBQ Steaks - Peru Style

A Peruvian girl showed me how to make steaks extra tasty before BBQing them but I can't guarantee this is an exclusively Peruvian style. Cue 'El Condor Paso' and let's begin...

Uncle Rasberry's Venison and Sausage Stew

This stew is very rich, delicious and easy, but it takes a little planning
because you have to make a cooked marinade first and it must be cool before you put the venison into it. However, you can make the marinade quite a long time in advance (a week or more), as it keeps very well in the fridge.

The marinade recipe is from the American household classic, The Joy of Cooking -- the measurements don't have to be fantastically precise so just use a not quite-full mug if you haven't got a cup measure in the house (teacups are too small).

Asturian Fish & Faba

During a trip to the Picos Iain asked me to make up a stew to include the legendary faba bean (the MOST EXPENSIVE bean!!) and fish rather than meat. This is a great area of Spain. Go there. And eat lots and lots of wonderful food. Then come home and try this. Or just try this. And remember my recipes are descriptive not prescriptive so be flexible and inventive.